I first learned about this book when I was working with a grant to the state of Rhode Island to support a statewide read along of this book (https://ribook.org/rari/). The woman I spoke with at Rhode Island Center for the Book raved about Solito so much I went out and picked it up. That was in 2024, but with the recent events in Minneapolis and elsewhere, this book is even more relevant today.
Solito is Zamora’s story of his journey from El Salvador to the United States as a nine-year-old. His parents had gone to the U.S. years before, because of the Salvadoran civil war, and they paid a coyote to bring Javier to join them. In the beginning of the book, Javier feels like he’s been waiting forever to join his parents, but he has no idea of what the “trip” (as he calls it) will entail. He’ll be leaving the town he grew up in and all the family he knows, but traveling to “La USA” is all he dreams of.
This book shines, not only because Zamora takes us with him on every step of his long journey, but because we see it through the eyes of a child. As a nine-year-old, Javier sees the world with a mix of wonder, fear, and creativity. Even surrounded by danger, he sees the beauty of the his surroundings. I lived in Tucson so I can appreciate many of the things he describes.
All of the colors are amazing—some still linger at the edges of the sky, but when sunrise was at its peak, it felt like we were walking in a painting. Pinks, oranges, reds, purples, yellows, mixing together like watercolors. I thought I liked sunsets most, but I think I like sunrises better.
His grandfather accompanies him on the first leg, but otherwise he has to make this trip alone, with only the other immigrants in his group to help him. He doesn’t know them but must rely on them completely. He’s mature in some ways, but immature in many other ways, like having difficulty using public bathrooms and tying his shoes. He has to learn things on this journey that you’d hope a child never has to learn.
I won’t tell you more because the power of this story is experiencing it, step by step, from Javier’s perspective. I’ve read quite a few memoirs about immigrants, and this is one of the most powerful. I found parts of it heartbreaking but also beautiful.
Much of the dialog is a mix of Spanish and English, and if you don’t know any Spanish you may find it difficult. I found I knew enough to understand most of it, and for me, the Spanish added to the atmosphere and authenticity of the book.
Zamora published a book of poetry, Unaccompanied, in 2017. He was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford and a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard and holds fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. He lives in Tucson, where he works with several organizations helping immigrants.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about the immigrant experience, and for those who enjoyed The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande and In the Country We Love by Diane Guerrero.
